


You Promise?

by GamLamLudi



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Funny, Light-Hearted, Mild Language, Pre-Romance, Pre-Timeskip, light spoilers, spar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 01:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19861129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GamLamLudi/pseuds/GamLamLudi
Summary: Felix finally knew his feelings for Byleth, however she's given him a seemingly impossible challenge, she agreed to go out with him after graduation if he managed to defeat her in sparring.





	1. Spars and promises

The students were reaching toward the end of the school year and with the ball coming up, many had been asked out. Felix being as unapproachable as ever had yet to get someone since the someone he wanted had already shot him down.

“Fraldarius, if you manage to beat me in battle then I’ll consider going out with you, once you’ve graduated of course.” He hated the fact that Byleth was always willing to set the boundaries between herself and the students. As it was the only people she never referred to by surname was Sylvain, mostly because he’d cause a stink if she did, Claude who’d often call her a formal stickler, and commoners that didn’t have one.

Though she clearly never turned down his affections, training with her usually resulted in a lot of bruises from sword strikes since she was determined not to let him win. Ingrid was already going with Sylvain just to shut him up and to make sure he didn’t start a fight during the ball. Dimitri had found some redhead student that supposedly won the lotto to go with him, Mercedes and Ashe were going together which left him the odd-man out. He also remembered there was Dedue but usually Dedue was going to play the wallflower in order to protect Dimitri. 

What made him even more irritable is that she probably asked one of the teachers already, he suspected Jeritza simply cause the mysterious types tend to get the ladies. He had hoped the same would work with his lone-wolf act. It had some success with his fellow classmates but Byleth saw through that in five seconds after she met him. He knew from her rather light-hearted comment “You really care about those three don’t you?”. Being a teacher that downplayed her words, it annoyed him how well she could see through his stone-faced exterior despite the fact that she was practically unreadable.

“Fraldarius?” Her voice stopped his trail of thought in it’s tracks as he turned around to face her, the typical pink dusting on his ears that appeared whenever she caught him off guard.

“Yes?”

“You’re late for your sparring match with me?” She replied in a matter of fact tone, that typical stoic expression only slightly altered with a concerned frown.

“I lost track of time, with finals coming up and all.” Reason magic was originally kicking his butt but after the grueling process of learning the basics he was finally getting the hang of it.

“Well if you are busy with studying then I understand, we can spar at a later dat-“NO!” Felix caught himself “I need a break from books anyway.” By the gods did he need one, his brain was mostly mush at this point.

“Alright then, follow me.” Byleth replied before moving on ahead, always leaving him to catch up, he’d grown used to it since she usually found herself on a tight schedule.

The sparring session Was.The.Worst!

His mind constantly distracted, even she could tell, her strikes didn’t have the impact they usually had and she could still knock him flat onto his back. With a resolute sigh, she withdrew from her combat stance.

Felix however did not stand down, “I’m good Pro-Byleth.” He knew calling her first name without honorifics was usually frowned upon by her. She responded by smacking his sword hard enough to throw him off balance, he wasn’t expecting the attack since she usually prepared first before striking.

“You will address me as Professor Byleth, F r a l d a r i u s.” Her jaw visibly clenched, though she didn’t actually care much about her status as a professor or the responsibility that came with it, even Sylvain and Claude were not willing to pick a fight with her over it, she knew he was challenging the boundaries she had set down.

“Only if you defeat me this time, Byleth.” He taunted, normally he wasn’t one to pick a fight but his frustrations over finals and the ball got the better of him. Byleth was not afraid to remind him why she was addressed as teacher. “Also if I win this time you have to go out with me to the ball.” Her eyes narrowed before she began to attack mercilessly. Felix knew that egging her on was difficult but it was one of the few things that he could use to his advantage.

Casting a couple of spells here and there was enough to get her to go on the defensive if only for a second was enough for him to throw his blade against hers and proceed to tackle her to the ground.

“Fraldarius What-” she heard the crackling of a relatively well cast thunder ball placed right beside her head; she was dumbfounded since he usually never played nasty. After a moment of silence she gave a small smile “Mercy.” The word used between them when one knew they had lost.

“No aces up your sleeve?” Felix replied, almost surprised that she was willing to give in.

“I would be dead if this were a real fight Felix, blunt force electricity to the head is often fatal.” Her smile widened, “I often wondered what it would take to have you think outside the box.”

The blush on his face must have been intense, he wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact that she had been intentionally aggravating him in spar sessions to make him consider utilizing more unorthodox methods that made little to win or the fact that she may have just been stringing him along in training the whole time and never actually took his training seriously.

He almost didn’t want to count it as a win if she had been going easy on him. “You intentionally lost didn’t you?”

“Hardly.” Byleth responded, “I didn’t expect you to take advantage of an opening like that, usually you would strike with a sword rather than magic. Still, never actually do this in battle, otherwise you’ll be dead mush.”

“Even if there is only one enemy.” Felix asked.

“Being on the floor .” She demonstrated by flipping him onto his back, “especially when your enemy is stronger than you.” Without word, Byleth got to her feet and headed toward the door, “Your victory is enough, you win the bet.”

It took him a moment, “W-wait!” he cursed his stumble of words, “What about the promise?”

“You won.” Byleth replied giving him a nonchalant wave, “Good luck on your finals, Felix”

With that she left a very flustered and confused yet happy Felix in the room, especially because she had also accepted his request to go out to the ball.


	2. A Ballsasterous Scene

The day of the ball had come, Felix’s father had sent him a rather pompous and overly warm looking outfit for the dance. Since no one was forcing him to actually wear it, he decided to burn it and wear his uniform instead. The summer was blistering hot as usual and a full bear pelt cape would melt him.

Dimitri was in princely attire that complimented his uniform and Sylvain was relatively typical for a noble.

“Hey Felix did your father send you anything?” Sylvain teased, he knew Felix disliked his father with a passion, especially after he had sent him a letter describing his fiancé-to-be and how beneficial she would be in asset manner. If there was one thing Felix hated more, it was reducing people to numbers and statistics.

“No.” Like hell he was going to allow his old man to ruin his life more than he already had.

“Was it a silk tunic adorned with the most fashionable items?” Dimitri asked this time; his smile had become less innocent and it frustrated Felix to no end. He knew there was nothing he could do for his friend. Despite Byleth telling him to be patient, that was like asking Ingrid to give up sweets for the rest of her life.

“Bear fur cape.” This caused Dimitri and Sylvain to openly cringe, no matter how long they remained in the monastery, the heat always got to them, and today was a particularly warm day, around hundreds of dancing people would just be a fate worse than death.

The three of them decided to head over to the ball for possibly the last time in their childhood, this also made him annoyed, the only saving grace is that Byleth had agreed to go to the ball with him, otherwise he’d probably skip just to avoid feeling stupid for wanting everything to remain the same as when they were kids.

“So, Felix whose the lucky girl that gets to go with you?” They all began to head to the dance hall, he still hadn’t told them that he successfully got Byleth to go with them despite their pestering.

“Someone in our house, she wouldn’t stop pestering me, I don’t plan to stay long anyway.” He lied, though he wasn’t sure whether he’d want to remain a long time amongst the ungodly levels of perfumes. Normally students would lightly apply perfume, but the hallways smelled like a horrible concoction of an alchemical experiment gone wrong, it made him nauseous to say the least.

A small part of him hoped Byleth didn’t have any, she never tended to smell outside of a slight aroma that he would usually associate with any particular perfumes, he usually stuck to “Je ne sais quoi” because she probably never used any perfumes, at least any of the ones that were commonly sold.

As he predicted, the dance hall was even more flashy and pungent than the hallways, it made him want to leave immediately, perhaps he’d just find Byleth and leave with her.

“You alright man?” Sylvain asked, completely unaffected by the overwhelming rosewater and orange blossom perfumes.

“Smells worse than rotten bear in here.” He uttered, covering his nose to save it from the horror.

“Don’t you love it!” Sylvain said, sniffing the air, “Sweat, perfume, and women scent!”

“For a man that can’t smell perhaps.” Dimitri stated, he was more subtly covering his nose by putting a hand over his nose and mouth.

“Second that.”

“There you three are!” Ingrid walked over with Dimitri’s redheaded date; they were both in relatively tasteful outfits. Sylvain gave Felix a cheeky smile before following Ingrid onto the dance floor, Dimitri followed suit soon enough, both of them keeping an eye out for him, no matter how subtle, or lack there of they were trying to be.

While music using a hurdy gurdy, flutes, violins, and cellos rang throughout the air, it didn’t take long for him to find Byleth on the side-lines in a slightly spiced up version of her outfit. She was currently in discussion with Manuela and Shamir, he hung out by the meat portion of the table and waited until she was done before sauntering over with an air of confidence he usually displayed.

In contrast he was scared out of his mind, despite being the one to ask, he was embarrassed about the idea since she could probably outshine him in even dancing. He thought about turning back but her eyes set on him with a raised eyebrow. He probably looked like a fool being so close to her spot and not calling out, he cursed the fact that he was acting like such a child.

“Enjoying the ball?” She asked looking out to the dancing floor.

“I guess.” He stared out, still trying to block the smell.

“Can’t make up your mind?” There it was, that same knowing smile.

“No, but…” he was never good with words, instead he decided to just simply act. He grabbed her hand and started to walk toward the dance floor.

“What are you doing?” She looked shocked at his act.

“Dancing.” He stated nonchalantly.

“No.” Her comment and obvious discomfort caught him completely off guard, he never expected her to outright deny any activity.

“Why not?” He asked, she grew more uncomfortable to him calling her out on it, it was almost…cute if it weren’t for the fact that he was causing her discomfort.

“I don’t dance.” She replied, he always wondered why she was never as strong when instructing the dancer class despite putting Ashe and Mercedes into that specialization. He then immediately paired two and two together.

“I’m not going to judge.” He replied, it was nice to know she had some kind of Achilles heel, it made her more human from the usually infuriatingly perceptive demonic sparring professor she was. 

“Alright then we won’t dance.” Felix replied.

***Bam***

His foot stomped next to hers almost clipping her own foot, she gave him a what the fuuuu? Look before frowning. “Stop mocking me Fraldarius, it’s already embarrassing enough.”

***Bam***

A wry smile fell on his face, his foot nearly hit hers again, she moved her foot toward his and-

***BAM***

She took this opportunity to stomp on his own foot with her heels. Felix let out a noise rather ungraceful for the heir to his family.

“For Serios’ sake woman!” He hissed through gritted teeth; he knew heels were usually attractive to most guys but he was pretty damn sure her stilettos just broke skin.

“I told you, I do not dance.” Her cheeks were now slightly red, Felix stared in shock, the stoic professor was blushing with a slightly childish look on her face.

“I’m not.”

“Felix.” She berated, she figured he was just trying to mock her.

“We’re sparring except with feet.” He gave a rather lopsided toothy smile; it didn’t last long when she kicked his feet out from under him.

“Oh? you mean like that!” She was somehow able to return to the deadpan expression, he never quite knew how she managed it.

He rubbed his butt, the sudden impact caught him off guard, she was ruthless as usual, one of the reasons why he fell so far over heels with her, that and their shared love for sparring. “Exactly, if the blue lions teacher doesn’t want to dance, she surely wouldn’t say no to a spar.”

“Still no; you illogical child…” she was laughing at this point, a few dancers had turned to look to see what the commotion was about, Sylvain was giving a knowing smile before continuing to stir up trouble with Ingrid getting on his case. “By the way are you alright?” She asked after kneeling down to speak a little more quietly.

“Hmm.” He hummed, he wondered why she would ask that.

“You look a little pale.”

“The smell…” he muttered quietly

“I smell?” She sniffed her outfit in confusion. 

“No, no, well yes but not bad, but it’s just…” he looked around the room, he hadn’t really realized how bad the smell had become as sweat began to add to the already obnoxious perfumed place. She nodded and offered a hand to him; they both left the dance hall despite curious expressions on some peoples faces as they left.

“Yeah, the smell was getting to me a little too.” Byleth admitted as they found their way to the courtyard. Felix could still smell it but the fresh air was a welcome change to the stuffiness, he loathed the day that he may have to host parties in his father’s stead, he dreamt some days of going hermit and living in the wild.

“I find that interesting, you usually seem unaffected by perfume in our class.”

“It’s not that concentrated.” She then muttered under her breath, “any dark beast would keel over from that smell.”

“You’ve got that right.” He said with a small chuckle.

“Also just let me know if you needed to get away rather than trying to endure it. It’s alright to ask for help if you’re uncomfortable.” Felix looked at her for a moment before leaning in, she tapped his lips with her fingers before kissing his forehead. “And you haven’t graduated yet, Fraldarius, until you get that shiny diploma you are still my beloved student.”

“That’s less than a day away…” he sighed silently, “there’s no possible way you’ll make an exception?”

“For you? No.” She smiled and then raised the hand she was still holding onto, turned it palm side up and kissed it. “Until you can call yourself an officer, you’ll still be a little frizzy haired lone-wolf brat in my eyes.” 

“And you’ll still be the same stoic sexy but terrifying professor in mine.” It surprised him how well he could say that without his face going completely red, he was sure he was already blushing however.

“I’m glad we agree.” She gave him a small smile, “now, since we have a few more hours before bed and you’ve decided to skive the ballroom dancing, I’ll just have to double check your magic skillset for myself.”

“What?! You want to spar even now!”

“I’m not taking no for an answer Mr Fraldarius, you were after all the one that stated that we weren’t dancing but rather sparring.” He gave her a ‘you’re hopeless and I’m too embarrassed to even find this funny’ look.

“Right Professor Babeleth.” She shot him a biting glare; her foot stomped right next to his as she proceeded to grab his hip.

“You better get an A otherwise I’ll enroll you for another year…. Hugo.” He visibly cringed.

“You’ll be handing me my diploma personally tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HC that Felix is relatively good at dancing while Byleth (being a commoner) never really learned how to dance so she doesn't have the confidence, she's also heavy footed unlike Felix.

**Author's Note:**

> I felt this was the best way to have the characters to confirm romantic feelings without the power difference of teacher/student since byleth requires him to no longer be her student to be in a relationship


End file.
